International
The sale of hijabs skyrockets in Iran due to the fear of the ‘Police of morality’
The veil seller Mahshid is doing well. The sale of hijabs has skyrocketed in his store in northern Tehran since the return to the streets of the ‘Police of Morals’ to reimpose the use of Islamic clothing, a situation that other businesses in the sector are also experiencing.
Numerous women look and touch veils, ask for prices and several wear clothes at the Mahshid store located in Tajrish Square, a business that sank after the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022 after being arrested for not wearing the hijab well.
“Many women stopped shopping and wearing the veil then. Sales were reduced to less than half,” he tells EFE Mahshid, who at 34 years old has had covered hair and has been selling hijabs for a decade.
“But with the return of the ‘Police of Morals’ to the streets, sales have recovered,” says this merchant who sells veils from 1,350,000 rials (2.5 euros) and has them in all colors and prints.
Sales have not fully recovered and Mahshid now dispatches 75% of what he sold before the death of the 22-year-old Kurdish girl, which provoked unprecedented protests against the Islamic Republic in which 500 protesters died in state violence.
After Amini’s death, many Iranians stopped wearing the Islamic veil as a gesture of social disobedience to a political system that they consider oppressive and discriminatory, especially against women.
To reimpose the use of the veil, the Iranian authorities launched a campaign of massive repression with the confiscation of vehicles, prison sentences and even lashes, Amnesty International denounced.
In vain. Many Iranians have continued without covering their hair and that is why in mid-April the authorities deployed the ‘Moral Police’ back on the streets of the country and since then arrests women who do not wear a veil, a mandatory garment in the country since 1983.
Afshin, a veil seller in a shopping center in northern Tehran, has also seen a significant increase in sales and believes that it is because of the fear of the dreaded police vans in which they put women sometimes forcibly discovered.
“Sales have improved in the last three months and I think it is due to the fear that many women feel about the violent arrests of girls who do not wear the veil,” this 36-year-old Iranian tells EFE.
Afshin sold 50 veils on weekdays and about 100 on holidays until Amini’s death in September 2022, after which sales fell to about 50 pieces per week.
“Now he has recovered a little. It’s not like three years ago, but we sell about 30 veils a day,” he explains.
One of the women who stopped wearing a veil in 2022 and has now covered her hair again is Melika, a 39-year-old housewife from Tehran.
“I stopped using the hijab as a form of solidarity with the young women who have paid very dearly for the fact of removing the veil,” he tells EFE.
“But after seeing the violent arrests of girls in the streets with the return of the police of morale, I began to use it in places where I know there are police vans,” he continues.
After two years without buying a veil, Melika bought one a few days ago: “It makes me feel bad to spend the money on something I don’t like and that they are forcibly imposing on me.”
Iran is now waiting for President-elect Masud Pezeshkian to take office at the end of the month and one of the great doubts is whether he will relax the veil policy, as he hinted in the electoral campaign.
“I don’t think he will, he has no power to do it,” a newly licensed psychologist tells EFE who doubts that the new reformist president will bring changes, a widespread opinion among young Iranians.
If so, the veil seller Mahshid will continue to do well.
International
Man arrested after deliberately driving into seven children in Osaka
Japanese police arrested a man on Thursday after he rammed his car into a group of seven schoolchildren in an apparent deliberate attack in the city of Osaka.
The children, who were on their way home from school, sustained injuries and were taken to the hospital. All seven remained conscious, according to local authorities.
An Osaka police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the suspect is a 28-year-old man from Tokyo. The officer shared statements the man made after his arrest: “I was fed up with everything, so I decided to kill people by driving into several elementary school children,” the suspect reportedly said.
The man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.
The injured children, aged between seven and eight, included a seven-year-old girl who suffered a fractured jaw. The six other children—all boys—suffered minor injuries such as bruises and scratches and were undergoing medical evaluation.
Witnesses described the car as “zigzagging” before hitting the children. One witness told Nippon TV that a girl was “covered in blood” and the others appeared to have scratches.
Another witness said the driver, who was wearing a face mask, looked to be in shock when school staff pulled him from the vehicle.
Violent crimes are rare in Japan, though serious incidents do occur from time to time. In 2008, Tomohiro Kato drove a two-ton truck into pedestrians in Tokyo’s Akihabara district, then fatally stabbed several victims. Seven people were killed in that attack.
Internacionales
Clashes erupt during may day protests across France amid calls for better wages
May Day protests in France were marked by a heavy police presence and clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement in several cities.
In Paris, Lyon, and Nantes, thousands took to the streets to demand better wages, fairer working conditions, and to voice their dissatisfaction with President Emmanuel Macron’s government.
While the majority of the demonstrations remained peaceful, isolated confrontations broke out in some areas. Protesters threw objects at the police, prompting the use of tear gas and resulting in several arrests.
Videos showing police crackdowns circulated widely on social media, drawing criticism from labor unions and human rights advocates, who denounced the authorities’ response to the protests.
International
Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem claimed that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has deported “more than half a million” migrants due to pressure from former President Donald Trump.
During a cabinet meeting highlighting the “achievements” of Trump’s administration in its first 100 days, Noem asserted that under the Republican leader’s influence, “Mexico has finally come to the table” to negotiate on migration and fentanyl trafficking.
“The president of Mexico told me she has returned just over half a million people before they reached our border,” Noem stated, criticizing media reports that suggest the Biden administration deported more migrants than Trump’s.
“I wish those deportations were counted,” Noem added, “because those people never made it to our border—she sent them back because you made her.” She went on to thank Trump: “They never made it here because they got the message—because you were so aggressive.”
Noem has made controversial claims about Sheinbaum in the past, prompting the Mexican leader to refute them.
On April 1, Sheinbaum responded to one such statement by declaring, “The president answers to only one authority, and that is the people of Mexico,” after Noem said on Fox News that she gave Sheinbaum “a list of things Trump would like to see” and that Mexico’s actions would determine whether Trump granted tariff relief.
Man arrested after deliberately driving into seven children in Osaka
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Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president
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